Can-heading machine.



Patnted June 3, I902 A. w. LIVINGSTON. CAN, HEADING MACHINE.

(Applicatioqflled Dec. 19, 1901.) J

3 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

No. 70!,589. Patented June '3, I902.

' I A. W. LIVINGSTON.

CAN HEADING MACHINE.

' (Application filed Dec. 19, 1901.) (No Model.) 1 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

No. 701,539 Patented June 3, I902 A. w. uvmesmu. 7

CAN HEADING MACHINE.

(Application filed Deg. 19, 1901,) (No Model.)

3 sheets-sheet THE NORRIS Parana ccv PHOTO-LITHO. y/Asmncrou. n. cy

UNITED STATES PATENT omen.

ANDREW w. tivlivesroiv', or ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA.

CAN-'HEADING MACHINE.

si ncrrrcrrcrrorr forming part of Letters Patent No. 701,589, dated June3, 1902. Application filed December 19, 1901. Serial No. 86,519. (Nomodel.)

To alt iohont it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW W. LIVING- 's'roN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Alameda, county of Alameda, State of California,have invented an Improvement in Can- Heading Machines; and I herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thesame. 7

My invention relates to improvements in can-heading machines of the typewhere the can-body with head in position is received between revolvingchucks upon a revolving drum and the flanges of the head and body seamedby engaging with the crimping members.

My invention consists, first, in means by which the lower chuck israised to clamp and hold the can against the upper chuck, and, second,in means for bringing and holding the crimpers in contact with thecan-flange, and, thirdly, in causing the drum and chucks to revolve inthe same direction.

The object in each instance is to avoid injury to the can by effecting amore gradual and more uniform action of the various parts than isaccomplishedby the ordinary appliances in use.

The details will be set forth more fully hereinafter, having referenceto the'accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of myinvention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line a: or of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a diagram of'the lower driving-gearing. Fig. 4 is a detailplan of the crimping or seaming mechanism. Fig. 5 is a section on theline y 'y, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an enlarged front elevation of the lowerchuck. Fig.7 is a side view. Fig. 8 is a section through a can body andhead.

A represents a drum revoluble upon the shaft 2 and upon which are thebrackets-3 and 3, carrying the respective upper and lower chucks 4 and5. Motion is imparted to the drum and the upper set of chucks by thefollowing chain of gears: 6 is a main driveshaft suitably connected, asby the bevelgearing 7, with the shaft 2. The latter has a small gear 8meshing with a large gear 9 upon a shaft 10. This shaft 10 carries'apinion 5o 11, meshing with an idle gear 12, which in turn engages thegear 13 on the hub 1 1 of the drum to drive the latter. The upper end ofthe shaft 2 is provided with a large gear 15, which meshes with a pinion16 on the shaft of each of the upper set of chucks 4 to revolve thelatter. By reasonof this gearing the drum and chucks will each revolvein the same direction. The necessity of such similarity of movement willbe shown later.

In Figs. 2 and 8 is shown a can-body B, provided at either end with theannular flanges b, and also a can head or end 0, having an annularflange 0, corresponding to the flange b of the can-body. By suitablemeans (not necessary here to be shown) the end is inserted on thecan-body with the adjacent flanges b and c in close contact. the can isdelivered upon a lower chuck 5, the latter is raised to bring the headedend of. the can against the upper chuck, whereupon the can is rapidlyrevolved and brought successively against the seamers or crimpers in amanner to be described later.

The raising of the lower chucks is efiected as follows: The spindles 17of these chucks are slidable vertically in their bearings and the chuckis .turnable independently of the spindle. These spindles each carry acrosshead 18 below, to which a box 19 is resiliently supported by meansof'the standards20 and springs 21. A bell-crank lever 22 is pivoted tothe bracket 3, audits shorter arm is provided with a roller 23, movablein the box 19. The bell-cranklever has its longer arm in the form of anarc of a circle and carries a roller 24 at itsouter end. This lever isthe important feature of this part of my invention. As the drum'revolves with a'can in place upon the chuck 5 the roller 24 engages anincline or cam 25, secured to the'frame of the machine. The length ofthis cam and the rela- Thus in position tive lengths of the arms of thebell-crank lever are such that the chuck will be gradually lifted tillthe other end of the can is brought against the upper chuck and theshort arm stands vertically, so as to automatically lock the can soforcibly against the upper chuck as to cause the can-body flange restingon the chuck to crinkle or be bent upward from the horizontal, so thatthe can would sometimes slip in the chucks when brought against thecrimpers, because with a short straight lever, as shown in my Patent690,593, the stationary cam engaged by it is necessarily sharp andnecessarily operates in the nature of a fixed stop or projection whichthe short vertical arm of the lever engages as it passes on thecontinuously-revolving drum, support, or carrier for the cans and theirchucks, whereas with a bent lever having a long arm in this particularcombination the stationary cam may be made as gradual as desired and aneasygradual clamping movement given to the chuck.

By the use of a lever of the bell-crank lever form and fashioned as hereshown I have been able to overcome completely the diflicultiespreviously experienced.

26 represents the seaming-rollers, carried on the swinging arms 27,which are suitably pivoted to the frame, as at 28.

By means of the spring tension member 29 the roller is made to projectinto the path of the flange edges of the head and body to be seamed.Heret-ofore it has been customary to rely solely on these tensionmembers to hold the seamer against the can. Naturally as these springshad to be still in order to hold the crimpers to the work the resultwould be that the can-flange would come forcibly against the crimper andthe flange would be dented instead of being taken hold of grad ually andturned over evenly. When the crimper let go, the machine would give anoticeable jerk and the next crimper engaged would cause another dent inthe can. Also where the drum and the chucks revolved in oppositedirections the result was a feeding or drawing in and crinkling of theflange as the chucks brought the can against the roller and occasioninga further unsteadiness in the running of the machine. Hence the obviouspurpose of interposing the idle gear 12, whereby all bump of the canagainst the roller is obviated and the flange feeds up naturally andsmoothly to the roller, and instead of drawing in the tendency of therevolving can is to repel the roller.

My other improvement rests in the manner in which I hold the seamer tothe can and bring the two into gradual engagement.

Upon the upper side of each of the arms 27 is a plate 30, which isprovided with the sinuous guides or cam-surfaces 3i and 31.

Secured to the brackets 3 on the drum are arms 32, carrying rollers Asthe drum revolves the roller 33 strikes the guide 34 before the seamercontacts with the can, acting to turn the arm 27 on its pivot to bringthe seamer gradually against the can, so as to relieve the parts of anyshock and consequent liability to indent the can. The roller thenengages the surface 31 at the moment the flange contacts with theseaming-roller.

The pivoting of the arms 27 and the sinuosity of the guides 31 and 34allow the seaming-rollers or seamers, or crimpers, as they are termed,to be carried out and around the cans and then be drawn in behind thelatter before the rollers 33 leave the guides. This insures a positiveand continuous engagement of the seamer with the can and at the sametime avoids the shock of contact and release before experienced.

It is understood that the tension of the spring members 29 is only suchas to cause the arms 27 to lie normally in the path of an approachingcan, and were it not for some such means as the roller 33 and thecam-plate 30, by which the several seaming-tools 26 on the swinging armsor levers 27 are positively held or pressed against the seaming-flangeson the can body and cover, the seamer would be pushed out of the way bythe can without rolling the seam or being held or pressed against theflanges of the can-cover and canbody with the force or pressurenecessary to roll or fold the same into adouble or other seam.

The plates 30 are pivotally secured to the arm 27, as at 35, and eachplate is slotted, as at 36. A guide-pin 37 on the arms extends intothese slots and the adjustment of these plates is elfected by means of aset-screw 38. By turning this screw the plate is moved so that theroller 33 is made to draw the seamer in more or less against the canaccording to the pressure desired.

There may be as many seamers successively arranged as is necessary toeffectually complete the operation of rolling the seam.

When the can has passed the last seamer, the lever 22 engages an incline39 on the frame,which trips the lever, causing thelower chuck to dropand release the can. It is thence removed by a guide 40 into a chute orother suitable receptacle.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patout, is-

1. In an automatic can-heading machine the combination ofarevolublesupport,an upper and lower set of chucks carried thereon, meanswhereby the upper chucks may be revolved independently of the drum,andmeans including a bell-crank lever having one arm connected with thespindle of the lower chuck, and a cam-surface in the path of the end ofthe other arm of the lever, whereby a lower chuck maybe gradually raisedto engage and hold a can interposed between said sets of chucks.

2. In a can-heading machine the combination of revoluble upper and lowerchucks, each of said lower chucks provided with a bell-crank leverhaving a longer curved arm, the shorter arm of said lever secured to thespindle of said lower chuck in such manner that when the longer curvedarm is oscillated in one direction the lower chuck will be made togradually approach its respective upper chuck and hold a can interposedtherebetween.

3. In an automatic can-heading machine the combination of a revolvingsupport, rotating chucks thereon between which the cans are held andrevolved independently of the support, pivoted arms carryingseam-rollers and means upon said revolving support whereby said pivotedarms are engaged to hold said seam-rollers against the can.

4. In a can-heading machine, a revoluble drum,rotating chucks thereonbetween which the cans are held and revolved, pivoted arms carryingseam-rollers, a cam upon each of said arms and means whereby said cammay be engaged to bring the same-roller into and hold it in engagementwith the can.

5. In a can-heading machine, the combination of a revolving support ordrum, means thereon for holding and revolving cans, rollers withwhich'the flanges of said cans are adapted to be engagedand crimped, asinuous cam-surface in connection with said rollers and means upon thedrum engaging said surface whereby said rollers are held against thepassing can.

6. In a can-heading machine, the combination of a revolving drum, meansthereon for holding and revolving cans, pivoted arms carryingseam-rollers, a plate on each of said arms a sinuous guide on said plateand means by which said guide may be engaged to hold a seam-rolleragainst a passing can.

7. In a can-heading machine the combination of a revolving drum, meansthereon for holding and revolving cans, arms carrying seam-rollers, aplate pivoted on each of said arms, a sinuous cam-surface on said plate,a projection on the drum adapted to engage said surface to hold theseamer against the can and means whereby the pressure of said seamer onthe can may be regulated.

8. In a can-heading machine the combination of a revolving drum, upperand lower sets of chucks carried thereon and concentric therewith,connections with a source of power whereby said drum and chucks arerevolved independently of each other and in the same direction, andadjustable seamers with which the cans are adapted to engage during therotation of the chucks and drum.

9. In a can-heading machine the combination of a revolving support ordrum, upper and lower chucks carried thereon said chucks and drumrevoluble independently but in the same direction, a bell-crank leverfulcrumed in relation to the spindle of each of said lower chucks, saidlever having a longer segmental arm adapted, to engage a cam whereby thesaid lower chuck is raised to hold securely a can interposed betweensaid lower chuck and its respective upper chuck, pivoted arms carryingseamrollers,a cam-surface in connection with each of said arms, aprojection on the drum and a roller on the projection adapted to engagesaid cam-surface whereby the seamer is drawn and held against thepassing can and means by which the bell-cranklever may be tripped toseparate the chucks and release the can.

10. In a can-heading machine the combination of a traveling support,sets of rotatable chucks thereon, a movable arm carrying a seam-roller,a cam on said arm and means for engaging said cam to bring said rollerinto engagement with the revolving can.

7 11. In a can-heading machine the combination of a traveling support,sets of rotatable v chucks thereon, a movable member carrying aseam-roller, a cam-surface on said member and a movable arm engagingsaid cam to draw said roller into and hold it in engagement with therevolving can.

12. The combination with a continuouslyrevolving can-carrier, drum orsupport, of a plurality of sets of rotating can-chucks there on, aplurality of swinging arms or levers each furnished with aseaming-roller, and interengaging cams and projections for automaticallyand positively holding and pressing the seamingrollers against theseamingflangesof the cans as the same are rotated and carriedcontinuously along in the rotating chucks on the traveling carrier,substan tially as specified.

13. The combination with a continuouslymoving can carrier or support, ofa plurality. of sets of rotating can -chucks thereon, a plurality ofseaming-rollers, a plurality of swinging arms mounted on the stationaryframe of the machine and carrying said seaming-rollers, andinterengaging devices on said swinging arms and carrier for forcing andholding the seaming-rollers against the rotat ing cans as they pass,substantially as specified.

ll. The combination with a plurality of continuously-traveling rotatingsets of canchucks, of a plurality of seaming-rollers engaging therotating cans successively as they pass in their traveling chucks, andmechanism for positively forcing and holding the seaming-rollers againstthe traveling and rotatin g cans as they pass,substantially asspecified.

, 15. The combination with a plurality of continuously-travelingrotating sets of canchucks, of a plurality of seaming-rollers en-'gaging the rotating cans successively as they pass in their travelingchucks, and mechanism for positivelyrforcing and holding theseaming-rollers against the traveling and rotating cans as they pass,said mechanism comprising interengaging cams and projections,substantially as specified.

16. The combination with a continuouslymoving can-carrier having aplurality of sets of rotating can-chucks thereon, of a plurality ofseaming-rollers, and, a plurality of interengaging cams and projectionsfor positively forcing and holding the seaming rollers against therotating cans as they travel past the seaming-rollers,substantially asspecified.

17. The combination with a continuouslymoving can-carrier having aplurality of rotating can-chucks thereon, of a seaming-roller mounted ona movable device independent of said carrier, and an interengaging camand projection for forcing and holding the seaming-roller against thecan as it passes in the traveling and rotating can-chuck, substantiallyas specified.

18. The combination with a traveling support or carrier, of a pluralityof sets of retating can-chucks thereon, a swinging arm mounted on thestationary frame of the machine and provided with a seaming-roller, andinter-engaging cam and projection members for positively holding theseaming-roller against the rotating. can as it passes, one of saidmembers being on said swinging arm and the other on said travelingsupport or carrier, substantially as specified.

19. The combination with a traveling support or carrier, of a pluralityof sets of rotating can-chucks thereon, a swinging arm mounted on thestationary frame of the machine and provided with a seaming-roller, anda cam and projection for positively holding the seaming-roller againstthe stationary can as it passes, said cam being on the swinging arm andsaid projection on the constantlyrotating carrier, substantially asspecified.

20. The combination with a traveling support or carrier having aplurality of sets of rotating can-chucks thereon, a plurality ofswinging arms mounted on the stationary frame of the machine, a cam anda seamingroller on each of said arms, and a plurality of projections onthe carrier engaging said cams on said arms to press and hold theseaming-rollers against the cans as they pass, substantially asspecified.

21. The combination with a traveling support or carrier having aplurality of sets of rotating can-chucks thereon, a plurality ofswinging arms mounted on the stationary frame of the machine, a cam anda seamingroller on each of said arms, a plurality of projections on thecarrier engaging said cams on said arms to press and hold theseaming-rollers against the cans as they pass, and a spring for each ofsaid swinging arms, substantially as specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ANDREW W. LIVINGSTON.

Witnesses:

S. H. NOURSE, JESSIE C. BRODIE.

